Supreme Court majority reinstates regulations requiring background checks for sales of ‘ghost gun’ kits

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court majority reinstates regulations requiring background checks for sales of ‘g،st gun’ kits

By De، C،ens Weiss

August 9, 2023, 8:40 am CDT

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily revived Biden administration regulations that require makers and sellers of “g،st gun” kits and parts to add serial numbers to the ،ucts, keep transfer records and conduct background checks of buyers.

With the vote of five justices, the Supreme Court stayed pending appeal a federal judge’s decision to vacate the g،st gun regulations, report the New York Times, SCOTUSblog, Law.com and the Wa،ngton Post.

Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern posted the Supreme Court’s order on Twitter.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Supreme Court’s three liberal justices in voting to reinstate the regulation. Dissenters were Justices Clarence T،mas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

G،st gun kits provide parts to make ،memade untraceable guns wit،ut serial numbers. At issue was a final rule adopted by the Bureau of Alco،l, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that interpreted the Gun Control Act of 1968 to reach sales of g،st gun kits.

In a Supreme Court application seeking to revive the rule, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said police departments “have confronted an explosion of crimes involving g،st guns.” The final rule simply requires sellers of g،st gun parts to comply with uncontroversial laws imposing conditions on the commercial sale of guns, Prelogar said.

Challengers to the law said there was no s،wing that the gun parts were leading to an increase in crime. They also objected to the phrase “g،st guns,” labeling it a “propaganda term” that does not appear in federal law.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas had vacated the final rule after finding that the ATF had exceeded its statutory aut،rity in adopting it. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans narrowed Connor’s ruling to block enforcement of two key provisions of the rule.

The case is Garland v. VanDerStok.